[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 248 (Monday, December 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84451-84452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28575]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1302X]

City of Temple, Tex.--Abandonment Exemption--in Bell County, Tex.

[Docket No. AB 1309X]


Temple & Central Texas Railway, LLC--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Bell County, Tex.

    The City of Temple, Tex. (the City), and Temple & Central Texas 
Railway, LLC (TCTR) (collectively, Applicants), jointly filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for the City to abandon and 
TCTR to discontinue service over approximately 6.277 miles of rail line 
between Belton, Tex., milepost 0.0, and Smith, Tex., milepost 6.277, in 
Bell County, Tex. (the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service 
Zip Codes 76513 and 76502.
    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on 
the Line; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on 
the Line (or by a state or local government entity acting on behalf of 
such user) regarding cessation of service over the Line either is 
pending with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or with any U.S. 
District Court or has been decided in favor of complainant within the 
two-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 and 1105.8 
(notice of environmental and historic report), 49 CFR 1105.12 
(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to 
governmental agencies) have been met.
    As a condition to these exemptions, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment and discontinuance of service shall be protected 
under Oregon Short Line Railroad--Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch 
Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 
I.C.C. 91 (1979). To address whether this condition adequately protects 
affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 
10502(d) must be filed.
    Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of 
financial assistance (OFA) has been received,\1\ the exemptions will be 
effective on January 27, 2021, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\2\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), and 
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 
filed by January 7, 2021.\3\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 19, 2021.
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    \1\ Persons interested in submitting an OFA must first file a 
formal expression of intent to file an offer, indicating the type of 
financial assistance they wish to provide (i.e., subsidy or 
purchase) and demonstrating that they are preliminarily financially 
responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i).
    \2\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on 
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's 
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent 
investigation) cannot be made before the exemptions' effective date. 
See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any 
request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible so that the 
Board may take appropriate action before the exemptions' effective 
date.
    \3\ Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can be found at 
49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), respectively.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to the 
City's representative, Peter W. Denton, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, 1330 
Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, and to TCTR's 
representative, Bradley S. Gordon, Patriot Rail Company LLC, Patriot 
Port Holdings LLC, 10752 Deerwood Park Boulevard, Suite 300, 
Jacksonville, FL 32256.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report 
that

[[Page 84452]]

addresses the potential effects, if any, of the abandonment on the 
environment and historic resources. OEA will issue a Draft 
Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) by December 31, 2020. The Draft EA 
will be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by 
writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the 
hearing impaired is available through the Federal Relay Service at 
(800) 877-8339. Comments on environmental and historic preservation 
matters must be filed within 15 days after the Draft EA becomes 
available to the public.
    Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or interim trail 
use/rail banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a 
subsequent decision.
    Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), the City shall 
file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has 
exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the Line. If 
consummation has not been effected by the City's filing of a notice of 
consummation by December 28, 2021, and there are no legal or regulatory 
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically 
expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: December 21, 2020.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Tammy Lowery,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2020-28575 Filed 12-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P